Grownup Back to School: Make Fall a Time to Reorganize Your Virtual Backpack and Pencilbox
LifeHacker had a great post today that I thought was worth sharing. It’s about using the change of seasons as a catalyst to get yourself reconoitered and back on track. The article advises you to:
- De-clutter your computer
- Empty your Inbox – he uses the trusted trio of Followup, Archive and Hold. I like Followup, and Do Not Delete and Archive.
- Reorganize your paper filing cabinet
- Teach yourself keyboard shortcuts (*My son taught me Ctrl+C (copy) and Ctrl+V (paste) not too long ago and I have no idea how I ever did anything without these two friends – try them instead of using right click or tool bar icons and you might be surprised how automatic it becomes and how fast it is)
- Consolidate your email addresses, phone numbers, and calendars
Here are my additions to the list:
- Learn three things about Excel that you continue to do the long/hard way because you’re too busy to learn the shortcut (yes, I’m talking to myself here.) Try this site, or this one.
- Catch up on your shredding (at home I have a box of to-do shredding, and a to-be shredded drawer that needs emptied – yes, I’m talking to myself again.)
- Reorganize your online filing cabinet – here’s a great beginner article about files and folders, and here’s a short video tutorial from Expert Village on organizing files in Windows.
- Delete unneeded email or understand archiving – here’s a website with information on using AutoArchive in Outlook (me again.)
What’s your secret weapon to getting/staying organized and ahead of the information deluge?
